Lewiston, Maine - Emily Llerena (New Milford, Conn.), Mackenzie Griffin (Stamford, Conn.) and Taylor Higgins (Merrick, N.Y.) combined for 51 points on 68 percent field-goal shooting to lead the Trinity College Bantams to a 67-64 victory over the Bates College Bobcat women's basketball team this evening in New England Small College Athletic Conference (NESCAC) action.
The visiting Bantams improve to 5-9 overall and 1-2 in the NESCAC with their first win in three games, while BAtes falls to 9-6 overall and 0-2 in the league. Bates hosts Amherst on Saturday at 3 p.m. Trinity plays at Tufts Saturday at 3 p.m.
Llerena had 11 rebounds in addition to her game-high 18 points on 8-of-11 shooting. Griffin shot 7-for-10 from the floor and scored 17 points, including 12 in the second half as the Bantams overcame a 37-28 halftime deficit. Higgins added 16 points on 8-of-13 shooting, to go with a team-high four assists. The Bantams won despite committing 26 turnovers, 18 of them in the first half. Allie Coppola had 16 points and 14 rebounds, and Bernadette Connors chipped in 14 points to lead the Bobcats.
After some initial struggles to maintain possession for both teams, Bates began to hit its offensive stride in the first half with first-year players Jackie Welch and Nina Davenport leading the way. Welch scored eight points in the opening stanza while hitting 3-of-4 shots, 2-of-3 from behind the arc. Davenport came off the bench and made 3-of-5 shots for seven points. For Trinity, Llerena and Higgins both had 10 points in the half.
The Bantam defense took control in the second half, holding Bate to 35.3 percent shooting from the floor , including 14.3% from three-point territory (2-14). Trinity's field,-goal shooting rose from 52.2 percent in the first half (12-23) to a 63 percent in the second half (17-27). Bates led, 48-40, before Higgins wove through the lane for a layup to start a 16-6 Trinity run which gave the Bantams their first lead since 6-4, at 56-54 with 10:09 left. Griffin knocked down a jumper and made two layups in the run. Bates first-year Lyse Henshaw banked in a jumper in the lane to tie the game for the final time at 58-58, but Griffin hit a jumper and junior guard Alexa Menard (Wallingford, Conn.) followed with a layup for a 62-58 lead with 5:48 left.
Coppola's layup closed it to 62-60, but Llerena scored underneath and a free throw by Menard opened up a 65-60 edge. Coppola's nice feed to Connors for a layup closed the gap to 65-62, and Connors returned the favor with 1:30 to play, with a Coppola layup making it a one-point game at 65-64. The teams traded turnovers before Higgins assisted Griffin on a layup with 29.6 seconds left in the game, providing the final margin. After a struggle to find an open look at a three-pointer, Connors was blocked on a would-be game-tying three with 10 seconds to go, but the ball went out of bounds and Bates maintained possession. Trinity's lockdown defense again prevented Bates from getting a good look at a three, and the Bobcats settled for a desperation step-back three-point attempt by Welch that missed at the buzzer.